[KERN, Leonhard] attributed to

Carved and cut-out ivory bas-relief, size 21 x 29 x 3 cm. The bas relief is made from 6 parts of ivory, mounted on a burgundy velvet background. It is framed in a wooden frame. Christ's lifeless body is lying down naked and seven persons stand around him, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took him down the cross, the Virgin Mary is weeping supported and comforted by Saint John the Evangelist. Three other women are mourning. There are some small fractures, 8 small holes for fixing the bas relief on its background and some backfills below (below Christ's feet). Leonhard Kern came from a family of stonemasons and apprenticed in his brother's Michael's studio in Würzburg in 1606, after which he travelled to Southern Europe. After his studies in Italy, he joined his brother's workshop again until 1617, when he was offered a position at court with the Palatine electorate in Heidelberg. Despite his great success Kern infrequently signed his work, particularly when he produced sculpture for important commissions when the sculptor's name was implicit. The attribution to Kern is based on comparison with several reliefs by him in alabaster and in ivory, including the same biblical scene at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and the same scene sold in 2020 in Vente Sainte-Etienne, Hôtel des Ventes du Marais. This article comes with a CITES form and can be sold only inside the EU